Summary - Department of Health and Ageing

There is a significant link between crime—particularly violence and property crime—and
the use of alcohol and other drugs, and this incurs high costs to the community. This
chapter describes judicial systems and procedures designed to improve outcomes both for
the community and for those who commit drug-related crimes.
Diversion aims to prevent early offenders from entering the criminal justice system
and to divert offenders with drug problems into appropriate education and/or
treatment.
More serious drug offenders may be offered an opportunity to have their offence
heard in a drug court, which offers supervised treatment in the place of custodial
sentences.
For those (criminals) who receive a custodial sentence, there is a range of programs in
prisons to restrict the supply of drugs into the prison, reduce demand for drugs by
prisoners, and minimise harmful drug use.
Under Australia’s National Diversion Initiative that operates across all jurisdictions, drug
offenders—particularly those on a first or second offence—are typically referred by police
officers to education or treatment, rather than being arrested. A recent evaluation of the
initiative has not yet been published.
Diversion is based on sound principles. Criminal sanctions have been shown to be
ineffective against recidivism unless they include treatment and rehabilitation components.
The evidence also shows that treatment programs delivered in the community have better
outcomes than those delivered in institutions. Concerns have been raised about the
effectiveness and ethics of treatment offered as an alternative to incarceration or other legal
sanctions, but it has been shown that it can be both ethical and effective provided that the
rights of the individual are protected.
These special purpose courts deal with people guilty of drug-related criminal offences,
offering extensive treatment and rehabilitation under the supervision and ongoing
management of the court. Drug courts in the US have been shown to reduce drug use
criminal behaviour during the duration of the program and rates of re-offending among
participants. Most Australian States have drug courts but only NSW has completed an
evaluation. There, it was found that the health and wellbeing of participants improved,
illicit drug use reduced, and it took longer for participants to re-offend. The cost of the
drug court was comparable to the cost of incarceration.